Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought • Hacker News Board

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#821

Post by ipaddr » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 10:40 PM UTC

badRNG wrote: post #315

zug_zug wrote: post #151

So this trend has been going on for a while now, I looked a bit into it about 5 years ago here's what I found: - Tons of popular and legal products/chemicals are "endocrine disruptors"[1] (fancy term for mess with hormones). - The FDA/EPA doesn't deny that, they don't themselves even really require tests for long-term health effects in humans (too difficult). Instead they give animals a 1000x+ dose and look for immed…

> My bet is within 20 years we'll see it as the more immediate problem than global warming. I don't want to diminish the importance of a paradigm shift in how regulators treat various chemicals, but I don't think this will be anywhere near as severe and immediate threat as climate change. Ultimately, if there is a substantial pool of people who's fertility is not adversely impacted by some yet to be identified chemic…

Global warming importance as an issue is slowly fading as the world is changing. Make room for new issues.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#822

Post by nonrandomstring » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 10:41 PM UTC

dham wrote: post #769

DevX101 wrote: post #158

The thesis of the book 'Countdown' is that this is largely due to widespread plastic and other endocrine disrupting chemicals. I believe this is one of the most important risks to humanity, after climate change, and global war. So far, I've taken some lifestyle changes to combat this: 1) Threw out all of my teflon cooking pans 2) Refuse to consume food in heated plastics 3) Throw out teabags (they have plastics). Use…

Just use glass. I never understood plastic containers. Basically just use shit that existed 50 years ago for food. Iron pans, store in glass, butter, lard. If you spill stuff on a couch just live with it. Buy leather. Too many things are made because people are lazy. If you have kids don't have nice stuff, it's very easy.

> If you have kids don't have nice stuff, it's very easy.

An unexpected upshot is that in a functional household you can let them play like actual children, without the cloying anxiety and constant shrieks of "For Gods sake Tristan and Tarquin, not on the Louis Vuitton !!"

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#823

Post by myshpa » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 10:41 PM UTC

The Role of Diet in Declining Sperm Counts https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-role-of-diet-in-declini...

Male Fertility and Diet https://nutritionfacts.org/video/male-fertility-and-diet/

Dairy Estrogen and Male Fertility https://nutritionfacts.org/video/dairy-estrogen-and-male-fer...

Chicken Consumption & the Feminization of Male Genitalia https://nutritionfacts.org/video/chicken-consumption-and-the...

Xenoestrogens and Sperm Counts https://nutritionfacts.org/video/xenoestrogens-sperm-counts/

Foods That Affect Testosterone Levels https://nutritionfacts.org/2017/05/16/foods-that-affect-test...

Dietary Pollutants May Affect Testosterone Levels https://nutritionfacts.org/video/dietary-pollutants-may-affe...

Best Foods to Improve Sexual Function https://nutritionfacts.org/video/best-foods-to-improve-sexua...

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#824

Post by bigbillheck » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 10:42 PM UTC

themagician wrote: post #566

Whenever I read about things like decreasing sperm counts or increases in cancer I always think of the same phrase, "Everything is chemicals." It just really doesn't surprise me knowing how little evaluation is done on chemicals and materials throughout the supply chain. I believe the period from 1900 to around 2100 will be looked at as this horrible era where we filled our own ecosystem with an almost unimaginable a…

> pay for the health and environmental damage you did,

Or do some trickery with shell companies, like Johnson&Johnson did, and not have to pay a dime.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#825

Post by UglyToad » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 10:48 PM UTC

dang wrote: post #745

UglyToad wrote: post #630

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes, that study of 99 (predominantly overweight) men from an infertility clinic that definitely shows soy affects sperm count. As far as I'm aware the evidence just isn't there with respect to soy and cherry picking the single study that shows some potential link is just helping fuel a dietary myth, would be my view.

Can you please make your substantive points without being snarky? This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html . This is particularly important when correcting misimpressions. If your comment is neutral, the neutral reader can absorb the new information fairly easily. But if you're hostile (as with " ah yes, that, definitely that "), then you're also signaling a pre-existing battle…

Thanks for the reminder, while I might not agree on an individual level where the line between calling out misinformation and partisan-bad-faith-point-scoring lies I think despite the repeated edits I was over the line here.

While it feels good to post, it doesn't really help the quality of discussion.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#826

Post by mint2 » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 10:50 PM UTC

Maybe it’s due to commercial dishwasher rinse aid residue which is reported harm cells or maybe it’s car tire micro-particle chemicals that also kill fish…

or maybe it’s one of 10,000 other chemicals that people with vested financial interests in assuming they are safe went “there’s no reported health concerns for this brand new chemical and usage so let’s go hog wild!!” And are now omnipresent in daily life.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#827

Post by type-r » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 10:58 PM UTC

10g1k wrote: post #723

You don't need all the chemicals they sell you. I don't use synthetic dishwashing liquid, because it's completely unnecessary. Anything that separates water from everything else is not going to do good things in your digestive tract. Other effects... who knows? I don't drink tap water, which in my country has about twenty disinfectants in it. What do disinfectants do? They are poisons which kill micro-organisms. The…

unless you have access to some spring, i don't see how drinking bottled water in plastic is better than not drinking tap

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#828

Post by nanomonkey » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 11:03 PM UTC

Dig1t wrote: post #787

jamiegreen wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who is too lazy to do their own research on this topic....did you happen to find which products generally contain the most endocrine disruptors?

My partner and I recently embarked on a journey to replace as many products in our lives that contain endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC's) as we could. It's _really_ hard. You have to carefully read product labels, 99.9% of products don't contain any info about EDC's, you have to specially seek out ones that are labeled as phthalate-free, BPA-free, etc. Biggest offenders are in the kitchen and bathroom. Shampoo, co…

Even some papers are lined with BPA, or similar products. The reactant acid in thermal paper is often bisphenol A (BPA). A good reason to go without getting a receipt.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#829

Post by literalAardvark » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 11:08 PM UTC

moffkalast wrote: post #727

SoftTalker wrote: post #683

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the water delivered to your house probably ran through miles of PVC pipe. What's a few feet more? I just run the water for 10 seconds or so (feel for it to get colder) before I drink.

> miles of PVC pipe Ah god, this is gonna be a "those dumb Romans used lead pipes" moment for our civilization isn't it?

No, nobody uses PVC pipe for water supply.

We do have quite a bit of lead pipe though.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#830

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 11:13 PM UTC

firstfewshells wrote: post #751

SoftTalker wrote: post #701

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also a lot of pressure on women to "have a career" which contributes to them waiting to marry and have kids. It's not really possible to optimize both being a mother and having a career, it's all tradeoffs and those who choose motherhood and a more domestic life are made to feel like they have sacrificed or lost out on something.

And who exactly is putting this pressure on women? Most men would choose a healthy, fertile woman over a career oriented one. I do think it's women that are taking on the pressure themselves in their quest to have it all.

[deleted]